Nozzles used for ejecting water adjacent the bottom surface of a swimming pool are usually flush with the surface when in the retracted position. Often, these flush mounted nozzles are also located on the side walls of a swimming pool. Nozzles protruding from a mounting surface are generally not user acceptable in the bottom surface of a pool as a user may stub his/her foot thereagainst or otherwise come in contact with such nozzle resulting in irritation and sometimes injury. However, protruding nozzles on the side walls of a swimming pool, whether a conventional or a vinyl lined swimming pool, are generally acceptable to a user as the likelihood of a contact therewith by a user is generally remote.
Many types of cleaning nozzles for swimming pools have been developed over the years. These may be categorized as either flush mounted or protruding from the mounting surface. The nozzles may be continuously rotating or incrementally rotating for a full circle or for an arc of less than 360 degrees (360°). The stream of ejected water may be essentially parallel with the adjacent surface or it may be at an angle from the adjacent surface.
The side walls of a swimming pool may slope essentially vertically downwardly and thereafter provide a curved surface that ultimately transforms into the bottom surface of the pool. Other types of pools may have a relatively sharp angle between a side wall and the bottom surface. This change in angle between a vertical wall and the bottom surface presents a unique cleaning problem for any pool mounted nozzles. Existing presently used cleaning nozzles, whether flush mounted or protruding, generally provide an inadequate cleaning. Steps and other structures within the pool, and usually abutting or extending from a side wall, present particular cleaning problems unless a fan like stream(s) of water can be oriented to scrub the surfaces at different angles relative to the surfaces.
Many presently available cleaning nozzles are suitable for initial installation as they will mate with conduits used to convey water thereto. However, a standard conduit used for this purpose is a 1½ inch conduit and few existing cleaning nozzles can be attached thereto as replacements for less adequately functioning cleaning nozzles. Thus, significant expense would be required to excavate the pool attendant the outlet of the conduit in order to attach an adapter fitting that will permit mating of the replacement cleaning nozzle with the conduit.
Most existing cleaning nozzles, whether of the flush mounted pop-up type or the protruding type incorporate elements that are extended and retracted each time a burst of water is passed therethrough. Usually, one or more springs are employed to effect adequate and repetitive retraction. These springs, particularly for any rotating or partially rotating nozzles very often will tend to “wind-up” due to friction between the spring(s) and the rotating elements acted upon by the spring(s). Such wind-up may cause jamming or poor operation with ultimate irritation to a pool user as well as a compromised cleaning function.